Most organizations cannot say how many analog phone lines they pay for, or what each line is connected to.
In one health system we audited, 1,825 of 3,000 lines were connected to nothing at all and had been billing every month for years. Unused lines are a budget problem. The lines still in service are a compliance problem.
In June 2026, AT&T sent crews to begin physically pulling copper out of roughly 500 wire centers. The analog lines most likely to still be in active use are those running fire alarm panels and elevator emergency phones. Those failures surface at inspection.
Much of the published material on this subject comes from companies selling replacement hardware, and it quotes worst-case rates as averages. We do not sell hardware. What follows is the 2026 record, how to determine whether your buildings are exposed, and what replacement actually costs.
What changed in 2026
Copper has carried a dial tone since Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876. Two developments in 2026 moved its retirement from forecast to active work.
On March 26, 2026, the FCC unanimously adopted the Network and Services Modernization Order. It eliminated the network-change disclosure filings carriers made before retiring copper, applied a uniform 31-day automatic-grant window to discontinuance applications, and preempted state rules that would have slowed a federally authorized retirement.
Then in June 2026, AT&T began physically decommissioning copper facilities in roughly 500 wire centers, about 10% of its footprint, under approvals the FCC had already granted. This is physical work, not a regulatory filing.
On the 90-day claim
You will read almost everywhere that the FCC “cut the notice period to 90 days.” For a business, that is not accurate. Under 47 CFR §51.333, the 90-day floor applies to residential retail customers. Non-residential customers, which covers nearly every enterprise, hospital, school district and government account, still receive a 180-day minimum. The FCC stated explicitly that the March 2026 order did not change end-user notice periods.
The change that matters sits upstream of the notice. The federal review, comment window and objection process that could add months to a retirement now runs in weeks. The 180-day notice was previously the final stage of a longer process. It is now close to the entire timeline.
180 days is enough time to execute an existing plan. It is not enough time to build one.
The AT&T timeline
Oct 15, 2025
Complete
AT&T stopped accepting new copper orders, moves, adds and changes across roughly 1,700 wire centers in 19 states.
If a line fails after this date in an affected area, there is no replacement copper to install.
Jan 12, 2026
Complete
The FCC automatically granted AT&T’s December 1, 2025 application to discontinue service at wire centers serving about 90,000 customers across 18 states, more than 30% of its copper footprint, excluding California.
The filing was December 2025 and the approval was January 2026. November 15, 2026 is the date service can stop.
Mar 26, 2026
Complete
FCC adopts the Network and Services Modernization Order (FCC 26-19), removing the federal friction described above.
June 2026
Underway now
Physical decommissioning begins in approximately 500 wire centers. Businesses in affected areas are receiving formal discontinuation notices with hard shutdown dates.
Oct 16, 2026
Next
Earliest possible discontinuance under AT&T’s July 2026 Section 214 application covering portions of 55 wire centers across 13 states, if approved.
Nov 15, 2026
Next
Date on which the January-approved discontinuance can take effect for those 90,000 customers.
End of 2029
Target
AT&T’s stated goal: no copper-based services across the vast majority of its footprint, with roughly 1,300 central offices retired.
AT&T’s language is “vast majority,” not complete retirement. California is currently carved out of the approved discontinuance.
What copper costs now
Copper pricing has diverged sharply depending on whose network you’re on, which is why any single industry-wide figure misleads.
- In AT&T territory, the repricing is severe. AT&T’s published Southeast business rate moved to $3,995 per line per month effective June 1, 2026. Rates above $600 and $900 per line are routine, and industry trackers document lines exceeding $3,300 per month across ten states.
- Outside AT&T territory, it is often unremarkable. Published business line rates in Frontier, Consolidated and CenturyLink areas generally run $37 to $110 per month. If a vendor quotes you “$1,000 a line” as an industry average, they are reading AT&T’s worst-case rate card as though it were your invoice.
- A large share of your bill is surcharges, not the line. A $45 line often appears on the invoice as $200. Establishing a real baseline requires reading the invoice rather than the rate card.
Replacement economics are steadier. Cellular POTS replacement typically runs $40 to $60 per line per month, plus roughly $100 to $300 in one-time device cost per endpoint. Whether that produces a 40% saving or an 80% saving depends on current spend, which is why the audit precedes the quote.
The lines that put you at risk
Desk phones are rarely the issue, since most organizations moved voice to the cloud years ago. The exposure sits in the lines that are not thought of as phone lines: fire alarm panels, elevator emergency phones, security and access control, gate controllers, fax, and point-of-sale terminals.
These systems answer to building code. NFPA 72 governs fire alarm communication paths and ASME A17.1 requires every elevator cab to maintain two-way emergency communication to a monitoring point. A generic VoIP adapter does not automatically satisfy either. Elevator inspectors test emergency phone connectivity during the standard annual inspection, and a cab with a dead emergency phone fails.
When one of these lines goes dark, the result is a code violation, an insurance exposure, and in some cases an order to stop using the building.
Lead times
Specialized fire and elevator panel work commonly takes 60 to 90 days to scope, procure and install, and that assumes the alarm vendor, elevator contractor, IT team and local Authority Having Jurisdiction can be scheduled in sequence. Against that, 180 days is a tight window.
Related case study
Cutting the Cord on Copper: How One Health System Cut Cost by 77%
47 hospitals. 370 clinics. 417 locations. 3,000 POTS lines drawing $3,348,964 a year, with no record of which were still in service. We audited every line, cut 1,825 that were connected to nothing, and migrated 1,175 to a purpose-built replacement with cellular failover behind every life-safety endpoint.
$2.58M
saved annually, from $3,348,964 to $766,476
Your migration checklist
- Inventory every analog line, and check your wire centerRead the bills for anything listed as analog, POTS, business line or single-line service, then walk the property and match each one to a device. At the same time, confirm whether each building sits in an approved retirement area. Retirement proceeds wire center by wire center, so two buildings in the same city can be on different timelines.
- Rank by code exposure, not by costFire panels and elevator phones move first. They carry the longest lead times and the hardest compliance consequences. Fax and back-office lines can wait.
- Establish your real baseline before you take a quoteInclude surcharges, taxes and fees, not just the line rate. Without that number you cannot evaluate whether a replacement proposal is a good one.
- Verify code compliance in writing, not in the brochureConfirm NFPA 72 and ASME A17.1 conformance for the specific configuration you’re buying, and confirm E-911 is preserved. The FCC retained that requirement.
- Migrate on your calendar, around your inspectionsCutting over between inspection cycles, on a schedule you control, costs meaningfully less than an emergency replacement priced against a shutdown date.
What we hand you
A G2C copper audit, in deliverables
A line-level inventory
Every analog line across every location, mapped to the system it serves, including lines connected to nothing. That is usually the largest single category.
Your wire-center exposure
Whether each building sits inside an approved retirement area, which carrier and rate structure applies, and what your real timeline looks like site by site.
Your true baseline
Actual spend read off the invoices, including surcharges, taxes and fees. This is the number every replacement proposal should be measured against.
A code-critical ranking
Which endpoints answer to NFPA 72 and ASME A17.1, which must move first, and what your lead times realistically are with your alarm and elevator vendors.
Vendor-neutral options
Replacement paths compared on cost, compliance and reliability across our portfolio of 300+ providers. We do not manufacture or resell hardware, so no product of ours appears in the comparison.
A migration sequence
Cutover order built around your inspection calendar and your budget cycle, so the work happens on a schedule you set.
The health system above went from $3,348,964 a year to $766,476 on the back of exactly this process. The savings came as much from the lines we eliminated as from the ones we replaced.
Where this leaves you
No federal rule requires your POTS lines to be gone by a date certain. Your deadline comes from your carrier, your wire center and your rate card, which is why the inventory has to come before the plan. In AT&T territory the economics have already decided it for you. Outside AT&T territory, timelines are generally longer than vendor marketing suggests. Life-safety lines still require a plan, since those are what turn a telecom project into a compliance matter.
The action is the same in either case. Stop waiting for the notice and begin replacing on your own timeline.
Sources
- FCC, Network and Services Modernization Order (FCC 26-19), WC Docket Nos. 25-208, 25-209, adopted March 26, 2026, released March 27, 2026.
- 47 CFR §§ 51.325, 51.332, 51.333, 63.71: copper retirement notice and discontinuance rules.
- FCC, Modernizing Telecommunications Networks: notice requirements for residential and non-residential customers.
- AT&T Section 214 discontinuance application filed December 1, 2025; automatically granted January 12, 2026 (~90,000 customers, 18 states). AT&T Section 214 application filed July 2026 (55 wire centers, 13 states).
- AT&T public statements on copper retirement scope and 2029 target, including Q4 earnings commentary.
- NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code; ASME A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators.
- Published carrier business-line tariff rates, 2026.